When Bella came down the next morning, Aunt Christy was seated alone on the sofa and Ben was nowhere to be seen
"Good morning Aunt Christy, have you had breakfast?" She asked as she walked towards her Aunt
Her Aunt nodded and Bella glanced around, "Where's Ben" She paused when she saw her aunt's face, it was black and her lips were split, "what happened to your face?" She cried and jutted her aunt's face upward so that she could get a good look
"Oh! It's nothing, I...hit my face on the door"
"Oh please Aunt, do not lie to me, I am not a kid anymore, Ben did this to you right?" Without waiting for her Aunt to give her a reply, she turned towards the guest room, "I am going to give him a piece of my mind"
Her aunt's hand shot forward and caught her arm, "No please, do not say anything to him" Aunt Christy's eyes looked so frightened as they stared at Bella
"What are you so afraid of Aunt? Why won't you leave him even when he treats you so badly?"
"B..Ben is a nice man, he is just hot-tempered and he hit me because I made him so angry?"
Bella turned to face her Aunt, "what was he angry about? Why did he hit you?"
Her aunt's face fell, "I can't tell you, Bella, it's between Ben and me"
Bella shook her head, she did not understand why her Aunt chose to stay with Ben until now even when all she got was ill-treatment, she cowered when she heard her husband's voice and always looked for chores to keep her busy whenever Ben was around and even when Ben took out his anger on Bella, she couldn't even do much to protect her.
Her Aunt stared at her, "You should go and have your breakfast if that's all"
Bella's mind went to the nightmares that she had, it was the reason she came down, she wanted to talk to her aunt about it, "I have something to ask you, please sit"
Her aunt's face grew curious as she sat close to her and faced her, "how did my parents die?" She asked and her aunt's reaction left her confused.
Her Aunt has gone as white as a sheet and Bella saw her hand even shake a bit before she hid it
"Why are you asking about your parents?" Aunt Christy asked, her tone was shaky which left Bella baffled, her aunt's reaction piqued her curiosity, there was something about her aunt's reaction that made her want to know about her parents' death even more
"I don't remember anything about my parents, you told me that I was right there when they died but I can't remember"
"All you need to know is that they died in an accident, do not try to open old wounds for me"
"I'm sorry, I know that my mum is your sister and her death still hurts you but I need to know exactly how they died Aunt"
"But why?" Aunt Christy cried
"Aunt, I have been having this nightmare, I was in a car with a man and a lady who I assumed were my parents and we got into an accident, the car exploded and I was the only one saved"
She didn't think it was possible but her aunt went even paler but Bella was anxious to know what was scaring her aunt so much, "was that how my parents died"
"Was that all you dreamt about?" Aunt Christy asked instead of answering Bella's question
"No, before the accident, a man did something to the brake of my parents' car, hence, when my father stepped on the brake pad, it was not working and that resulted in the accident, and even then, that same man took just me out of the car and let my parents burn to death, I figured that for the man to know where we were, it only means he was following us but in my dream, the face of the man wasn't clear"
Her Aunt stood up from the sofa, visibly shaken, "I...I... don't know, it's just a nightmare okay, just forget about it"
"No Aunt, you can't convince me, this is no ordinary nightmare, it is my memory. My parents didn't just die in an accident, they were murdered"
"No! They died in an accident, forget about this topic and forget about the dream, now, stop asking so many questions and go have your breakfast" her Aunt snapped and turned to leave but stopped all of a sudden
"B...Ben, how long have you been standing there?" Aunt Christy asked, her voice was clouded with so much fear and Bella's brow furrowed, there's something not adding up and she will get to the bottom of it
"Hmmm" Ben replied to his wife absent-mindedly, he was not looking at his wife but at Bella with an expression that she couldn't quite read
Bella felt Deja Vu wash over her, why did it suddenly feel like she had seen Ben with this same unreadable expression long before she started living with her Aunt
"I...need you to help me with something," Aunt Christy said and dragged Ben along with her toward the guest room.
*******************************************
Aunt Christy started throwing clothes into her box immediately after she got into the room with Ben, "we have to leave now, she has started regaining her memory"
"Hey, calm now, she didn't remember any face, did she?" Ben replied as he snatched the clothes from her hand and flung them on the bed, "we'll leave but not now, I haven't done what I want to do, I am here for the money and I'll get it"
"If she can vividly recall everything that happened, it won't take long for her to recall the faces and know that you are the killer"
"If she finds out, I'll simply kill her too" Ben snarled and Aunt Christy swayed on her feet
"No, please, you can't hurt her, you promised me"
Ben scoffed and clenched her jaw, "that only stands if she keeps being a good girl"
"After killing her parents, you can't touch her, you've done her enough harm"
"I killed her parents? Maybe one of them, in case you have forgotten, let me refresh your memory, one of her parents is still alive and she is standing right here"
Aunt Christy swayed on her feet and the door suddenly burst open and Bella stood there in the doorway wearing a startled look on her face at the revelation she had just heard.